From Sinatra to SZA, from R&B to salsa to alt-rock
Aretha Franklin described her mission as a singer like this: “Me with my hand outstretched, hoping somebody will take it.” That form of deep, empathetic bond between artist and listener is essentially the most elemental connection in music. And you’ll consider our listing of the 200 Best Singers of All Time as a celebration of that bond. These are the vocalists which have formed historical past and outlined our lives — from clean operators to uncooked shouters, from gospel to punk, from Sinatra to Selena to SZA.
When Rolling Stone first revealed its listing of the 100 Best Singers in 2008, we used an elaborate voting course of that included enter from well-known musicians. The outcomes skewed towards basic rock and singers from the Sixties and Seventies. This new listing was compiled our workers and key contributors, and it encompasses 100 years of pop music as an ongoing world dialog, the place iconic Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshkar lands between Amy Winehouse and Johnny Money, and salsa queen Celia Cruz is up there within the rankings with Prince and Marvin Gaye. You may discover that, say, there isn’t any opera on our listing — that’s as a result of our purview is pop music writ giant, that means that the majority the artists on this listing had important careers as crossover stars making well-liked music for the lots.
Earlier than you begin scrolling (and commenting), needless to say that is the Best Singers listing, not the Best Voices Record. Expertise is spectacular; genius is transcendent. Positive, most of the individuals right here have been born with large pipes, excellent pitch, and boundless vary. Others have rougher, stranger, or extra delicate devices. As our write-up for the person who ended up at Quantity 112 notes, “Ozzy Osbourne doesn’t have what most individuals would name voice, however boy does he have an important one.” That might apply to various individuals right here.
In all instances, what mattered most to us was originality, affect, the depth of an artist’s catalog, and the breadth of their musical legacy. A voice may be attractive like Mariah Carey’s, rugged like Toots Hibbert’s, understated like Willie Nelson’s, slippery and luxurious like D’Angelo’s, or bracing like Bob Dylan’s. However in the long run, the singers behind it are right here for one cause: They will remake the world simply by opening their mouths.